The Golden Age of Greece

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher

Greece is suffering from economic collapse. When I was there two years ago, air traffic controllers were on strike, garbage collectors were on strike, and even the pharmacy owners were on strike. Government socialism has eroded the last vestiges of the economy.

Recently, while speaking at an international dialogue in Rhodes, I took a tour of the Acropolis. The guide, who had to be licensed by the government, even complained about the tight restrictions the government had on all forms of the marketplace, the high taxes, and the insufferable living conditions. Then, he showed us the beauty of the Parthenon, which was built with an amazing mathematical accuracy to give it a sense of beautiful proportions from every angle. However, these proportions were in part a trick or trompe l’oeil. In other words, to make columns appear perpendicular at a distance, they had to slant them slightly. Even more amazing, it was built four hundred years before Christ in a mere 41 years, a miracle considering how long other great works like the Chartres Cathedral took to build.

How did the early Athenians do it?

The guide said because it was a brief period of Greek history of real freedom, where each person could sign their own work, whether it was a small cornice or a small pillar. So, each person took pride in his work.

I brought up this interesting historical fact, that the free market produced the greatest age in Greek history, to several Greek leaders and historians. They said the current Greek citizens have been living under the tyranny of socialism for so long that they could never break free.

I pointed out, when Adam Smith wrote THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, that Scotland was one of the most backward countries in the world, and Samuel Johnson used to make fun of Scotland’s backwardness. However, as a result of Adam Smith’s argument for a free market, Scotland became the economic miracle of Europe. Of course, modern socialism has now dragged Scotland back into poverty.

Again, more protests from my Greek friends.

So, I pointed out that Singapore was so poor in the 1960s that Malaysia ejected Singapore from its control so that Singapore wouldn’t drag Malaysia down. Once independent with a free market, tiny little Singapore, without any natural resources, became one of the economic miracles of Asia.

The myth propounded by the elite, who believe in George Orwell’s dictum that some pigs are better than others, is now eroding the economic powerhouse of the United States. It has already brought Greece, Spain, Italy, and other areas of Europe to the poorhouse.

Freedom is the answer, but freedom can only come where you have responsibility. Responsibility comes from self-control, and that is a gift of the Holy Spirit, which only comes when we are set free by the love of Jesus Christ.

We can only pray that the confused citizens of our day will wake up to the truth that freedom and faith in God, not government, is the answer.